Hearing live sound through laptop speakers via Line 6 USB interface

So what I'd like to do for my guitar jamming on the go is purchase one of the Line 6 USB interfaces w/ PodFarm (POD Studio GX, POD Studio UX1/UX2 - whichever is cheapest). From reading the product descriptions it seems that the user plugs in the device via the USB interface and "monitors" - that is, listen to the sound output - via a headphone jack on the Line 6 interface. What I'd like to do is be able to hear the guitar sound (modified with PODFarm effects) through the laptop's own sound system via its speakers or microphone port.

Is this possible? My reason for wanting it this way is quite simple - if I can have the guitar mix from the Line 6 interface played through the laptop output, then it makes it very easy for me to jam along to whatever backing track or song or metronome that's open on my computer. Otherwise, listening to headphones plugged into the Line 6 interface means that the guitar sound is segregated from everything else that I want to hear along with it.

Can this be accomplished merely by plugging in the USB interface? Surely, with adequate ASIO drivers, there must be a way to listen in "live" to the guitar sound through the laptop. Another potential workaround would be to take a cord with 1/8" plugs on both ends and plug it into the headphone port on the Line 6 interface and the other end into the laptop's dual microphone/line-in port. Can anyone confirm if either setup (listening live through laptop via USB connection or 1/8" connection) actually work?

I don't understand why such a setup is not commonplace. For years, I've been able to plug in my PODXT, and then the X3 Live, into the line-in port of the Soundblaster card on my desktop computer so that I could have the guitar sound coming out of my computer speakers along with whatever else I was playing along to. All I had to do was uncheck the "Mute" button on Line-in under Windows 7/8's volume control panel (there were some hiccups along the way when I upgraded to Windows 8, but that's a different story and since resolved).

At one point, I went to an electronics/music store to seek the solution I'm talking about now for a portable computer and the ssalesperson was incredulous that I was able to have this setup working on my desktop computer - he went so far as to call it "jury-rigged", when all was required was to plug the POD into the sound card's line-in port, make sure line-in wasn't muted on the operating system, and then jam away! No jury-rigging involved.

If anyone can shed some insight into what I'm seeking to do, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Just a brief addendum: yes, I know laptop speakers generally tend to be pretty crappy, but the ones I have are decent - at least enough so to play guitar sound at a reasonable level. Otherwise, if the USB port can enable me to have the sound come through the laptop, I can use the computer's headphone port so that I can hear everything (guitar, background tracks/metronome) at once. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the input guys, it is appreciated. I went ahead and ordered the Studio GX, maybe I can jury-rig it to my satisfaction. If I end up using an external output, can anyone recommend a good microspeaker for that purpose? (or is that not allowed to be discussed on Line6 boards)

I would just think, in this day and age, you should be able to plug a guitar through an interface into your computer and play. I know laptop speakers aren't the best, but if you're hooking it up to a laptop, there's a good chance you're not aiming for the highest fidelity in the first place. I just want to minimize the amount of hardware components involved in what should be a portable, on-the-go rig. That's the end of my rant. But I do appreciate where you guys are coming from on this.

You can hook it up to your internal laptop speakers. All you need is compatible cables and/or adapters to route the GX outputs into your computer's microphone input. That way the Pod Farm application running on your computer will still see and use the GX over the usb connection as its soundcard, but the sound will then be routed to a second soundcard - the one in your computer. Your computer will simply ignore the digital audio being sent back from the GX over usb. There will be an extra set of D/A and A/D conversion that will further deteriorate the sound, but you likely won't notice that because it will be completely overshadowed by the already inferior sound from your internal speakers. But sure, you can do it.

If you bought a top-end surround sound audio system for your home theater..... would you choose to listen to it through the $2 earbuds you got for the free movie on your last flight?

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Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans..... John Lennon

I would just think, in this day and age, you should be able to plug a guitar through an interface into your computer and play.

That's pretty much how the GX is, but I know where you're coming from, and I tried to do exactly the same thing too (but with a desktop pc and speakers) when I first started using the PODxt. And I did run the analog outs of my PODxt into my pc's internal soundcard for a while.

But it is just the nature of USB ASIO interfaces in general because they are basically external soundcards.

And you can do what you want like silverhead describes, it's just not optimal.

And if you start recording, that is when you will likely want to go the optimal route.

If I end up using an external output, can anyone recommend a good microspeaker for that purpose? (or is that not allowed to be discussed on Line6 boards)

it's "allowed" but I'm not sure anyone could recommend a good "microspeaker" - basically the smaller the transducer, the more-limited the sound. If you are looking for something 'portable' there is little choice, but if you can spend $100 and have 110v power available, you can get a small set of 'monitors (M Audio, Samson) that are low power but will sound miles better than any speakers built into a laptop.

Guys, the point here is that high-fidelity sound is not a priority for me in this endeavor - I want to be able to practice against a software metronome and backing tracks with the volume way down, because most of the time I'm using my laptop is in a quiet environment. Now, when I want to hear a good ol' screaming Line 6 amp simulator crunch, my POD X3 Live running through my desktop sound card's line-in and out my Advent AV-570 Powered Partners does the job just fine.

The fact that the Line 6 USB interfaces are really sound cards in their own right seems to complicate the situation in terms of my desired setup. Maybe what I've been whining for this whole time is a Pocket POD. The Studio GX is already on its way, but if it doesn't live up to my expectations, I'll probably return that and go for the Pocket POD instead. I did like the idea of being able to change amp settings through the PODfarm software though.

Not trying to persuade you to hook anything up in any way you do not want, just trying to illustrate all the options.

You could also just hook headphones up directly to the GX, which I think would be optimal for a quiet environment.

Just so you know, the X3 is also a USB soundcard, so you could connect you Advents directly to it.

If you do plan on recording, the X3 is pretty cool, it comes with a free POD Farm 1 plug-in license (tied to the X3). You can record the dry unprocessed guitar signal with the wet processed simultaneously. Then you can go back and add the POD Farm 1 plug-in to the dry track and tweak to your hearts content.

The GX does this as also, but there are some differences. A new GX comes with POD Farm 2.5 (tied to the GX), but the X3 has all the model packs. The GX needs a computer to process sound, the X3 does not.

So not debating or trying to confuse you, just putting it out there because I went thru nearly the same thought process and when the light bulb went off it was AWESOME!!

OK, I think I may have been operating under a huge misconception this entire time - since the Line 6 hardware is also its own soundcard, does that mean that, once connected via USB, it also processes and outputs sound from other applications on the computer, i.e. metronome app, Winamp, etc.

My impression all along was that the only thing you hear from the Line 6's line out/headphones port is the guitar tone itself, but if I can hear everything through that port, then that changes my perspective completely. Of course I don't always prefer headphones so I could still connect it back to the laptop's line-in, but up until now my impression was that you'll only hear the guitar tone through the Line 6 port. Please set me straight on this and sorry for the cumulative idiocity of my posts.

OK, I think I may have been operating under a huge misconception this entire time - since the Line 6 hardware is also its own soundcard, does that mean that, once connected via USB, it also processes and outputs sound from other applications on the computer, i.e. metronome app, Winamp, etc.

Please set me straight on this and sorry for the cumulative idiocity of my posts.

No worries, no idiocy perceived!!

That's why I was saying just wanted you to understand the options because at first it may not seem intuitive to many, I know it wasn't for me at first!!

If you get into recording, I nice thing to have is a mixer, doesn't have to be anything fancy. That way you can have multiple thing connect, you pc's line ot, the X3, GX...ect, and run the outs of the mixer to your speakers, that way you're not constantly connecting and disconnecting cables for different scenarios.

At least with the POD X3 Live, I've only used the USB connection to download firmware updates through the Monkey updater program. I think I did try a couple of times using it as the connection to output audio through my computer, but it didn't work for whatever reason.

I am running Magix Music Maker on my computer and I want to play my guitar along with the Music Maker tracks, but the Music Maker audio goes through the main computer sound card (and out of the computer speakers/headphone jack), even when my PodGX is plugged in. It does not come out of the PodGX line out (although my guitar does). I cannot therefore hear teh two audios together. This is a major limitation for me. How can I get the two (my guitar and the Music Maker audio) out of the same audio jack?